1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to novel embryonic stem cells derived from mice.
2. Description of the Related Art
Embryonic stem cells, sometimes referred to as ES cells, are derived from inner cell mass (ICM) of fertilized eggs in blastocyst phase, and can be cultured and maintained in vitro while being kept in an undifferentiated state. Embryonic stem cells are extremely useful biological materials for preparing transgenic animals. For example, a gene knockout mouse in which a specific gene is inactivated can be produced by replacing an active gene in an embryonic stem cell chromosome with an inactivated gene by means of a homologous recombination system.
Embryonic stem cells derived from mice, hamsters, and pigs were previously reported. However, processes for establishing embryonic stem cells have not been sufficiently developed, and the sorts of embryonic stem cells are undesirably limited compared to the numbers of mouse strains that have been developed for wide variety of numerous purposes. Currently, researchers most widely use the cells derived from mouse strain 129/Sv as embryonic stem cells. However, the mice of 129/Sv are not always sufficiently bred, and accordingly, if a gene knockout mouse is established, the mouse must be disadvantageously made into a hybrid by crossbreeding with other strains. There is also a problem that the origin of embryonic stem cells established from the strain 129/Sv cannot be completely specified from a genetic viewpoint, since various kinds of substrains are involved in the strain.
Function of a certain gene is generally influenced by other genetic backgrounds in a whole-body level. Accordingly, for close comparative researches by means of gene knockout mice, it is indeed ideal to establish embryonic stem cells from an inbred mouse strain, whose basic data has sufficiently been accumulated, and compare the influence of the knockout of a gene of interest with results obtained from original strain. For these reasons, it has been desired to establish novel embryonic stem cells from inbred mouse strains. However, this class of embryonic stem cells has not been reported yet. As embryonic stem cells derived from mouse strains, embryonic undifferentiated cells disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (KOKAI) No. (Hei) 5-328878/1993 and the like are known. However, these cells are characterized as embryonic stem cells derived from F1 hybrid, and are not those established from inbred strains.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide novel embryonic stem cells. More specifically, the object of the present invention is to provide embryonic stem cell established from inbred mouse strains.